TV Review: Game of Thrones 5×03- High Sparrow

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Last season, everybody was already on the edge of their seat by the third episode because of the infamous Purple Wedding. While this season hasn’t had any intense events happen already, I would be lying if I said this season has been boring so far. I can already tell the direction that the writers are trying to go with. Instead of killing people left and right, they are having us focus on major character development. From Jon Snow taking none of Janos Slynt’s shit to Margaery being the ultimate conniving badass, this episode heavily illustrates the different turns that our favorite characters are taking.

In King’s Landing, Margaery and Tommen have finally tied the knot (with no death in sight) leading to a satisfied queen and an even more satisfied king (losing your virginity to Natalie Dormer is almost a decade’s worth of bragging rights). It always surprises me just how manipulative they make Margaery. After consummating the marriage, she tries to talk to Tommen about Cersei and trying to emasculate him by saying how his mother is always going to be looking after him. This leads him to passive-aggressively try to get Cersei to go to Casterly Rock because she is “happier” there.

The other part of King’s Landing’s development is about religion. The High Septon is doing some sort of fucked up religious role playing in LittleFinger’s brothel when he is assaulted by The Sparrows. When he goes to Cersei demanding them to be punished, she throws him in jail and goes to visit their leader The High Sparrow. When she finds him, he  just turns out to be a dirty old man who wears no shoes because he found someone who needed them more. Cersei decides to form an alliance with this man instead of punishing him like the High Septon wanted. What she would possibly want with this religious group is beyond me.

In Braavos, Arya is not happy just sweeping the floors constantly. When she complains to Jaqen H’Ghar about it, he simply says, “Valar Dohaeris” or “all men must serve”. He said that she cannot become a faceless person with all of the belongings of Arya Stark. She takes all of her possessions and throws them into the river except her sword; she hides it in some rocks right next to the river.

In the North, Winterfell has been taken over by Roose Bolton, the man who betrayed Robb Stark and killed him. He tells his bastard, the newly named Ramsay Bolton, that he needs to get married and that he found the perfect girl for him. Remember when Littlefinger said that his marriage proposal was approved last episode? Well, that wasn’t for him; that was for Sansa and she is less than pleased to be betrothed to the family that murdered her own. However, when she arrives, she finds that she still has some allies. “The North remembers,” an old maid tells her in passing. At least she won’t be completely alone, but will she be able to deal with the sociopathic Ramsay?

At the Wall, Jon is settling in his new position as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Stannis gives him one last opportunity to become Jon Stark and ride with him to take Winterfell away from the Boltons but he refuses, saying that he made an oath to stay. He issues his first set of commands by making Ser Alliser Thorne first ranger and sending cowardly Janos Slynt to repair Castle GreyGuard. Slynt refuses, saying that he will never take orders from a bastard. With no hesitation, Snow takes him outside and beheads him. I loved seeing this and the completely different reaction compared to when Daenerys did it. Instead of hissing at him, everyone, including Stannis, respects him and the decision that he made. It also reminded me of the very first scene of the very first episode of Game of Thrones. When Ned had to behead a deserter of the Night’s Watch, the man kept saying how scared he was. However, Ned did it because it was something he had to do. Jon shows a lot of Ned’s characteristics and whether that will be a good or a bad thing, we will soon find out.

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The episode ends with Tyrion and Varys in a carriage on the way to Merreen. Tyrion is done with hiding and demands that they be let off for now. Much to Varys’ hesitation, he complies. They walk through a very dirty slave ridden area where they worship Daenerys and believe that she will actually save them. Even in the brothel, the prostitutes dress up like her because “every man wants a queen”. The episode ends with Tyrion getting kidnapped by a very familiar face: Jorah Mormont. He simply tells him, “I’m taking you to see the queen” but since she completely hates his guts, I highly doubt that’s where they’re going.

 

Thoughts of The Week:

  1. For all of the Destiny players: Apparently there was an “Easter Egg” present. Apparently, This window looks exactly like the robot, Ghost, that Peter Dinklage voices. Coincidence? Most likely. 
  2. I want a spinoff based off of the adventures of Varys and Tyrion where Varys always has to clean up Tyrion’s shit and save him from the bad guys.
  3. Can Ramsay always be this charming, please?

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